Depressingly, there have been several high-profile cases of racism towards Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior over the last 18 months. Perhaps the most notable occurred at the Mestalla last May, when the Brazilian reacted angrily to remarks and gestures from a section of Valencia supporters, who were later banned for life by Los Che.
Mouctar Diakhaby did not play in that match for Valencia, but he certainly knows all about it. He would have certainly empathised with Vinicius, given that he was subjected to alleged racist abuse three years ago from then-Cadiz player Juan Cala.
Speaking to BeFootball (via Marca), Diakhaby admitted his understanding of the opinion that Vinicius is a provocateur, although that in itself is not a reason to racial abuse him.
“Vinicius is provocative, but there are limits. Just because someone behaves like that on the field does not mean that I am going to allow myself and others to denigrate his race.”
Diakhaby also compared the reaction to Vinicius’ incident with his own two years prior.
“When my story happened, for me La Liga did not do what was necessary, but when what happened to Vinicius happened… At Real Madrid, they have more standing, and that’s where they’re going to investigate more. La Liga tries to do things, but in my case, it’s my opinion, they tried to hide my problem, but they didn’t fix it.
“I don’t think La Liga thoroughly investigated the matter. They tried to bury it, so as not to give themselves a bad image.”
Racism has long been a serious problem in Spanish football, and unless serious steps are taken, it will continue to be the case. There should never be cases like the ones against Diakhaby and Vinicius.
